Illumination’s villains are often known for being creative, quirky, silly and
occasionally even powerful. They can usually bring the laughs, but they also have juuuust
enough of an intimidation factor to be an actual threat to the studio’s many animated heroes. But,
given that we’ve already ranked these baddies on their morality and their strengths,
we felt that it was time we figured out which Illumination villain has the most brain power.
I’m Brad with WickedBinge, and this is Illumination Villains: Dumb to Brilliant.
First off, we have the characters who are… Not The Brightest.
Starting this tier off, we have the Sinatra-singing sensation, Mike the
Mouse. Though he’s more of a jerk than an outright villain, we felt it was fair to include him in our
list - even if we’re also going to be roasting him a bit. Whether it’s due to his cockiness or
an actual lack of intelligence, it can’t be denied that Mike often comes off as having all talent but
no brain. Being someone who’s usually out to make a quick buck, he’s willing to cheat in order to
win big, but isn’t quite clever enough to get away with it - as we see when the Bears catch
him hiding cards under his jacket. Before he even wins Buster’s singing competition,
Mike - ever confident that the money is already his - goes out and buys an expensive car,
further putting himself in debt. The thing is, he might have at least gotten away from
the Bears if not for him deciding to perform in the Moon Theatre’s big show - something he
only did out of pride. Honestly, it’s no wonder he most likely got eaten.
Following him is the other antagonist - or rather antagonists - from the first SING movie,
the Bear Mob. Yeahhh, while Mike may be one of the dumber characters from the SING franchise,
the Bears aren’t exactly geniuses either. Sure, the leader bear is able to catch on to Mike’s
cheating, but that’s really the only smart moment that any of the bears have. After all, when they
try to get the money from Buster, they pay no mind to the glass floor and walls filled with
water - which leads to this glass getting broken and all the people (including the Bears) nearly
drowning in the theatre. They also give up on tracking down Mike pretty quickly when they think
that he’s drowned, which sort of makes them seem like less of a serious threat. All in all, while
these guys are certainly powerful and strong, we can’t say that it would take much to trick them.
Our next section on this list is what we like to call Average Folks,
the characters who land somewhere in between Dumb and Brilliant.
First up is the Once-Ler. While he is a pretty simple character, the Once-ler
actually has quite a few impressive skills. He knows how to play guitar and sew, he’s a crafter,
an entrepreneur and is able to successfully make millions off his thneeds, expanding his factory
and productivity ten-fold. But of course, for all this success, there is one huge caveat that takes
quite a bit away from his intelligence ranking: his destruction of the environment. While yes,
the Once-Ler’s evil was prompted by both greed and pride, both of which can be pretty blinding.
You have to wonder though just HOW blinding they could be when the environment is literally getting
destroyed around him. Also, given the fact that the Once-Ler had already come up with
a compromise that would’ve allowed him to still make his thneeds without chopping down any trees,
you would think that he would’ve focused on inventing a machine that picks the truffula
fluff more easily instead of just making giant axe machines. He also could have very easily planted
more trees as he was chopping them down. But nope, just a bit of convincing from his mother is all
it takes for the Once-Ler to take the easiest and most destructive route, and in turn seal his fate.
At the very least, we’ll give him credit that he was smart enough to keep the last truffula seed.
Next is human-hater turned superhero, Snowball. Being a rabbit driven mad after his abandonment,
Snowball manages to be just a bit more crafty than your average pet, even if some still see him as
insane. Throughout the first movie, we see just how determined Snowball is when it comes to his
goals, even if his plans regarding said goals are a bit on the messy side. Despite this though,
he’s still able to stay on Max and Duke’s trail. Prior to meeting the two dogs,
we also see him execute a pretty impressive escape plan when he tries to help a fellow
Flushed Pet escape from the dog catcher. Outside of these few impressive moments though,
Snowball admittedly doesn’t show a ton of intelligence. Even when he becomes a superhero,
he still tends to act more on emotion and gut instinct than well-thought out plans. But hey,
at least he knows how to fight and defend himself for the most part.
Following him is our final ‘Secret Life of Pets’ villain, Sergei. There isn’t a whole ton to say
about this guy, as he’s about as cliche as they come in terms of being one-dimensionally evil.
He’s a circus owner, which means that he’s probably got some decent businessman skills,
and he was able to acquire and train several different animals - with some of them,
such as the wolves, being trained enough to work for him. But at the same time,
Sergei is a cruel man who only really likes his pet monkey and seems annoyed by all
other animals. As such, he’s only willing to train animals in the cruelest ways possible,
using things like whips and other punishments. Any professional trainer would tell you that
these methods don’t work long-term, and that forcing an animal to obey out of fear only goes
so far. Even if Sergei was only doing so out of contempt for his circus animals, we still
have to say that this is a pretty dumb (and pretty unnecessary) move for him that probably
wouldn’t have worked out for him long-term, even if the other pets hadn’t intervened.
Managing to rank slightly above his fellow Lorax businessman, we have Aloysius O’Hare. Given how
lame this guy is as a villain, he naturally doesn’t have too many strengths. I mean,
just look at how he tries to convince the crowd at the end of the film to “let the tree die”. Noooot
exactly much of a smooth talker, is he? But, we have to give credit where it’s due, and compared
to the Once-Ler, O’Hare was overall a smarter businessman. Not only did he successfully come up
with a product that would improve people’s lives, thus motivating them to continuously buy from him,
but he also had several security measures put into place to assure that he could stay in
power. He’s no master manipulator, but he knows how to intimidate others into compliance. Now,
would it have been smarter for him to just allow trees to come back,
losing out on some profits but at the same time being able to stay in the town’s favor? Yeah,
probably - and that’s ultimately why we can’t rank him any higher. But for what it’s worth,
we can understand why he managed to stay in power for several years.
Next up is the one and only Jimmy Crystal. Head of an entire entertainment empire, Jimmy knows how to
charm anyone and everyone who tries to speak with him, allowing him to rack up a ton of popularity,
wealth and a stunning reputation. Unfortunately, his on-camera persona is far from the real him,
and while he’s a lot more savage than some would believe, he also isn’t the ‘entertainment genius’
that he pretends to be. Obviously, his dumbest moment was when he just gave Buster a show simply
because the koala said he knew Clay Calloway, not bothering to double-check if this was true until
AFTER he has already started funding the show. We also have to touch on how, during the latter
half of the film, Jimmy’s actions are easily more driven by rage than by any sort of logic.
Not only does he try to kill Buster in front of plenty of witnesses, which would have gotten him
arrested regardless of his wealth or status, but many have pointed out that if he’d just allowed
the show to go on, it would have been a win-win for him. He could’ve taken credit for the idea,
like he tried and failed to do at the end of the film, and he could’ve made a ton of money
off encore performances of the show - all while avoiding being arrested, at least for
a little while. Like the Once-Ler, it’s a case of an otherwise fairly smart villain doing what
feels the most emotionally satisfying to them instead of doing what actually makes sense.
Finishing off this tier, we have the new leader of the Vicious 6, Belle Bottom. Now, out of the
remaining Vicious 6 members, it’s easy to see how Belle ends up being their new leader. She’s
confident, skilled, level-headed and knows how to think on her feet. We get an excellent showing of
this at the start of the film, where she’s able to outmaneuver and escape the AVL. She and her team
also trick Wild Knuckles into getting them the Zodiac Stone before betraying him. Though, you
could argue that her dismissal of Wild Knuckles and Gru was pretty foolish, even if she didn’t
fully know what the latter was capable of. We should also note that it seems to take the Vicious
6 forever to track the two of them down, only finally getting the Zodiac Stone back at the very
last second. During the finale, we again see how Belle is both a strong and clever fighter in that
she’s even able to stop Knuckles from grabbing the stone. But on the other hand, the fact that
she seems to sort of play with Knuckles and the Minions instead of just killing them outright is,
let’s be honest, pretty foolish. Overall, you could probably go either way with Belle Bottom,
but for us? We’d say she’s just on the edge of being above average in terms of intelligence.
Next up, we have the characters who are College Bound - the ones
who are just barely below our super geniuses.
Beginning this tier is the Despicable Me villain who started it all, Vector. This is another case
where it’s hard to really know just how smart he is, though Vector’s smart moments are a bit more
frequent than Belle’s. We see that he’s a wiz at using tech, even if it’s hard to say which
ones he invented himself and which he just bought with his dad’s money - aside from things like his
squid-launcher, which… yeah, that’s pretty silly. At any rate, he knows how to put up a well-armed
defense, and can be strategic when he wants to be - as we see when he steals the Shrink Ray
from Gru, as well as later on when he kidnaps the girls. Still, we have to point out that aside from
Vector sometimes making foolish mistakes out of cockiness, he can also just be really unobservant.
He fails to notice anything suspicious with the ‘cookies’ that get delivered to him, it
takes him several days for him to realize his shrink ray is gone, and he doesn’t even notice
the moon returning to normal size until it’s too late. With this being his biggest flaw
when it comes to his intelligence, it’s hard to be as impressed with his successes.
Following him is the beautifully wicked Scarlet Overkill. While we can’t necessarily call her the
smartest “Despicable Me” villain, as you’ll soon see, we can still give Scarlet credit for being
so impressive and so successful. As the story goes, she was apparently able to build herself
a criminal empire by the age of thirteen. She’s skilled at using both her husband’s inventions
as well as her own fists, being a martial arts master. We’re sure she had many more successes,
given how many admirers she has in the villain community, so we’ll give her a bit of credit
for those as well. But many have agreed that for as impressive and powerful as Scarlet is,
she’s once again a villain where her defeat is prompted by a case of anger and pride
overshadowing logic. If not for Scarlet choosing to disown and later trying to destroy the Minions,
who she believed were traitors despite the Minions doing exactly what she
asked (albeit in a roundabout way), Scarlet probably would have gotten
away with all her crimes. If she had just forgiven the Minions for their ‘betrayal’,
she would have not only the crown but also an even BIGGER army of loyal followers. It’s a
decision that many fans are still a bit baffled by, and it’s why we can’t rank her any higher.
Entering our top 5 brainiacs, we have Carlos from “Hop”. Although he’s a very silly villain, we
have to give Carlos credit that if it weren’t for EB’s drumming skills and Phil’s love of dancing,
he could have very well gotten away with his coup, allowing him to become the new Easter Chick.
After all, he not only knows all the ins and outs of the factory, but he’s also an extremely skilled
manipulator, as seen when he briefly tricks Mr. Bunny into thinking that EB is dead and that Fred
is responsible. When the truth is revealed, Carlos still manages to keep the upper hand,
even defeating the Pink Berets single-handedly thanks to some liquid chocolate. Yes, he may
be just a bit arrogant in his actions, but the guy still knows how to not only plan but execute said
plans in a successful manner, and is even able to think pretty well on his feet. He’s the first
villain on this list who doesn’t have a massive obvious flaw in his intelligence or a notable
lapse in logic, but he’s still not quite the smartest villain that Illumination has to offer.
Next up, we’re ranking 80s themed villain Balthazar Bratt. You wouldn’t think a campy,
shoulder-pads wearing villain voiced by Trey Parker would be one of the smartest in the
series - but, here we are! And with how much he manages to keep the Gru family on their
toes during this movie, maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised. For as silly as his various homemade
weapons and gadgets may be, they manage to also be incredibly effective. Things like expanding
bubblegum, his exploding Rubix cube and his sonic keytar make getting away with his crimes
almost like child’s play to him, and we have to assume he invented all these things himself,
which is impressive to say the least. Being an actor, Balthazar also manages to pull off
two successful disguises - the jewel inspector and then Lucy - showing just how observant and
skilled he can be. We also can’t forget about his sweet dance-fight skills, which are almost
unbeatable. Simply put, this guy was at the top of the AVL’s most wanted list for ages,
and we totally understand why it took them so long to finally catch him.
For our final character in this tier, we’re giving the Bronze Medal
of Braininess to El Macho. One would think that El Macho would be more brawn than brain,
but while he does employ super-scientist Dr. Nefario to help with the execution of his plans,
the plans himself are all him. From successfully faking his death and hiding in plain sight at a
mall, to easily framing a fellow store owner in order to get the AVL off his
trail even further, to nearly taking over the entire world with rabid Minions - it’s easy to
see that El Macho is much more clever than he may first appear. He’s also much more observant than
characters like Vector, which allows him to figure out Lucy’s secret identity as an AVL agent. While
other ‘Despicable Me’ villains may have more power or more connections or influence over others, it’s
El Macho who manages to beat almost all of them in terms of sheer intelligence.
We’ve now arrived at the top of our list with our Genius-level characters.
Getting our Silver Medal of Braininess is Herb Overkill. Now, obviously Herb isn’t exactly a
super villainous guy. He’s laid-back and even downright friendly in some cases, even to the
Minions after they become enemies of his wife. But for as friendly and not-so-evil as he is, it
doesn’t change the fact that he’s - as far as we’re concerned - the smartest
inventor in the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise. Some of his inventions include lava guns,
a hat that controls people’s minds, and his wife’s rocket-filled coronation dress. All
of his weapons are shown working as intended without any major flaws or downsides, making
him the most successful inventor that we see from this series… Even if he himself sometimes isn’t
the most clever, having just a bit of that ‘himbo’ energy despite being a twig.
Finally, our Gold Medal of Braininess is going to the Grinch. Yes, we’re giving our highest ranking
to another not-so-bad-actually inventor. But, can you really blame us? While the Grinch can
sometimes be a bit clumsy in executing his plans, his actual inventions and heist gear
for his big holiday theft are simply top notch. Not only do they make stealing all the presents
and decorations in Whoville an absolute breeze for him, but the fact that they were all made in just
a few short days makes them even MORE impressive! He’s also invented things for his home to make his
life more convenient, and the credits show him inventing machines to help Cindy -Lou’s mother
with her household chores. But yeah, if not for his change of heart, he would have gotten away
with his crimes rather easily thanks to his wide array of gadgets, and despite his awkwardness,
he is still clever enough and skilled enough at quick thinking to convince Cindy-Lou that
he’s Santa. For all these reasons, we felt that there really wasn’t anyone else who could compare.
He may not be much of a villain, but he’s still the Most Brilliant Illumination character here.
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking, and tell us what we should
cover next! Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Dumb to Brilliant playlist,
where we figure out which characters have the most wits. But most importantly, stay wicked!